Did America become more open-minded?

Question 1

Give examples that agree American did become more open-minded

Answer 1

1. Women had greater freedom
2. New technology meant that rural areas were aware of city news, music and advertisement
3. Cars meant people could move from state to state and on a smaller scale rural families could travel to a nearby large town rather than relying on the local store

Question 2

Give examples that show America did not become more open-minded

Answer 2

Isolationism- intolerant of people whose race, politics or religion were different
Morality- didn’t agree with the new entertainment the movies brought, especially the impact it had on women
Church groups- objected to anything that did not follow the teaching of the church or something that conflicted the ‘truth’ of the bible e.g. theory of evolution

Question 3

What was the ‘Monkey Trial’?

Answer 3

1. Many religious people rejected the theory of evolution
2. William J. Bryan campaigned to have the teaching of evolution banned, mocking the idea that people evolved from monkeys.
3. Tennessee passed a law that banned the teaching of anything that contradicted the Bible Creation story
4. John Scopes a biology teacher from Tennessee, deliberately taught it so that there would be a court case to see if it could be taught under the Constitution
5. The judge said that going against Bible teaching was illegal and fined Scopes $100.
6. Tennessee law was not repealed until 1967